He changed Tiwat

A huge crimson moon floated within the crack.

On the surface of the crimson moon, there is also a huge eye—that eye coldly looks down at Han Fulai, like a god in the heavens opening his eyes and casting a deathly gaze upon the insignificant rebel.

Lei's film, finally unable to conceal the turmoil in her heart any longer.

Enveloped in the crimson moonlight, Han Fulai felt a chill creep into his heart.

When he faced "Musou's One Slash" at Kannazuka, he had the same premonition of danger.

Unlike last time, this time the sense of danger he felt was much stronger. The chill was like the icy wind of the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain, making the blood in his body seem to freeze.

But he continued firmly, “'The Eye Hunt Order' is a ruse, and so is the 'Isolation Order.' Although it's difficult, if one isn't afraid of thunderstorms and storms, there will always be someone who can slip through the cracks of the 'Isolation Order.' If you wanted, the density of these thunderstorms could actually completely block any loopholes for smuggling. But you didn't do that…”

"Because that thunderstorm wasn't targeting humans, it was targeting the gods."

"Everyone knows that the thunderstorm that envelops the Inazuma Sea is the will of the Thunder God—the will you are showing to the other 'Seven Rulers of the Mortal World'. This thunderstorm barrier, capable of covering an entire country, is not meant to deal with powerless mortals, but with gods of equal power. You are warning your colleagues not to interfere with Inazuma."

"As long as those other members of the Seven Gods don't come, there's probably no one else in the world who can stop your plan."

"You are so confident that you made no attempt to hide anything from a 'mortal' like me. As a result, I saw the biggest flaw in your entire plan—yes, it's still that 'thousand-handed, hundred-eyed statue'."

Lei neither affirmed nor denied, but simply stared at his face with those purple eyes.

Han Fulai understood that gaze:

"Go on."

and also:

"Once you've finished speaking, you can shut your mouth forever."

...In that case, we should say everything that needs to be said.

Han Fulai took a deep breath and slowly said, "'The Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue' is the most abrupt existence in your entire plan, and also in the entire Inazuma Kingdom. In other words... it is the most meaningless thing. In the words of my world, this is called 'a spectacle that ruins a country'."

"To spend so much manpower and resources to build a huge, useless building, besides gaining a little... well, 'emotional value,' it can probably only attract tourists, right? But you insist on implementing a 'closed-door policy' to prevent tourists from all countries from visiting. So what's the point of this statue?"

"—This is the biggest question I've had since I came to Inazuma."

"After asking Ying about the details of the 'Hunting Eye Ritual', I gained a new understanding of the statue."

"Ying fought you during the 'Hunting Eye Ceremony.' She is probably the only person in the entire Inazuma region, besides myself and your retainer Yae-no-miya, who has had the privilege of seeing your true face. She said that you don't look like that statue."

"In fact, statues of gods don't necessarily match the face of the deity. The Anemo statue in front of the Mondstadt Cathedral doesn't look much like Barbatos himself, because Barbatos hasn't manifested for many years, so his appearance is quite vague in the minds of the Mondstadt people; and in Liyue, the statues of the Emperor often don't even match gender and species. Not only are there dragon-shaped statues, but some people even insist that the Emperor is a beautiful woman..."

"Statues are tools for people to place their faith in, and whether their appearance resembles the deity himself... is actually not a big deal. I didn't think it was a point of doubt at first. But Ying also said that the Inatsuma people regarded that statue as a symbol of 'eternity'."

"When considered together with other points of doubt, this becomes very problematic."

"You are the 'Eternal God,' and considering the time you ruled Inazuma together with the previous general, your sister, Lady Raiden, it has been at least 2,600 years. For humans with short lifespans, your existence itself symbolizes 'eternity.'"

"If that's the case, why bother building a statue that will be worn down by wind and rain? I don't think you should do something so pointless."

"Another point of suspicion is the 'arrest warrant' you issued for Ying. You announced that you would 'build her into the statue,' just like those eyes of God, build her into the statue."

"This is another strange thing."

"What use is the Eye of God on a statue? Deterrence? With your prestige, do you need such a simplistic deterrence?"

"Or is it simply to echo the name 'Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes'? But this statue doesn't actually have a thousand hands, does it? And there's never been a legend about Inazuma Raigin that mentions 'Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes,' so why would the statue be named 'Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes'?"

"Following these doubts, I further thought, if this statue is used to store the confiscated Eyes of God, then why use this statue to store them? Isn't the storeroom in the castle tower big enough to hold a few Eyes of God?"

"This statue gives the impression of 'buying the box and returning the pearl' again—you ordered a very large and exquisite 'box' to be made to store the confiscated Eye of God, as well as Ying, this 'humanoid Eye of God'..."

"Furthermore, for nearly five hundred years, you have almost never left the castle tower, but you moved your feet for the small 'Hunting Eye Ceremony' and personally attended such a statue-dedication ceremony that can't even be called a festival."

"That means this statue is indeed very important to you."

"Considering the flaws that emerged during the implementation of the 'Eye Hunting Edict' and the 'Isolation Edict,' this is my final conclusion—"

“All the policies you have implemented in Inazuma in recent years have been for the purpose of building this ‘Thousand-Handed and Hundred-Eyed Statue’. You are indeed ‘buying the box and returning the pearl’; from the very beginning, all you wanted was this ‘box’.”

Chapter 196 A Thousand Hands and a Hundred Eyes, Under Heaven and on Earth [4k]

Lei finally spoke: "'Buying the box and returning the pearl'...what an interesting metaphor. But for me, the 'pearl' has always been 'eternal' from beginning to end."

Her words represented her complete affirmation of what Han Fulai had just said, and also her approval of him.

Even with her perspective as a demon god, it was hard to imagine that someone could see through her plan to this extent based on such a so-called "flaw" without ever having been to Inazuma Castle or seen the "Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue" in person.

The fact that Morax, the Rock God, chose this person as his successor shows that he has a unique vision.

What she was even more curious about was—

"What makes you so sure that the statue depicts Ishtar? Have you ever seen Ishtar? Or did the Rock God and the Wind God reveal Ishtar's appearance to you?"

The "Thousand-Handed and Hundred-Eyed Statue" has been under construction for over two years, yet no one can identify the true form of the statue.

The artisans who followed the instructions of the Heavenly Commander simply sculpted the statues according to the blueprints given by the Thunder General. They did not know which deity the statues represented, and most people regarded the statues as statues of the Thunder God.

Even if the statue does not resemble the real person in the movie, it can at most be considered that the carving techniques of human craftsmen are unable to reproduce the appearance of the deity, and it is impossible to regard the statue as another deity.

The idea that the "eternal god" who rules Inazuma and the "symbol of eternity" he created are another god is completely beyond common sense.

Whether it was the remnants of the White Night Kingdom on Haiji Island, the foolish envoys of the Winter Kingdom, or even her attendant Yae no Miko... no one knew what the "Great God of the World" looked like.

In fact, apart from Ray herself and the two ancient gods of Liyue and Mondstadt, all the other people and gods who had seen Ishtar's true face were already dead.

Furthermore, the name of "Time Ruler" Ishtar has become a taboo on Sky Island for certain reasons. Within the area covered by ley lines, mentioning her name will be detected by Sky Island, and her portraits and statues have long since disappeared...

This is also one of the reasons why Lei's film is confident that the "thousand-handed, hundred-eyed" divine image will not be seen through.

Logically speaking, Han Fulai should have had no chance to see Ishtar's true face, let alone recognize the statue's features. Although Barbatos and Morax knew what Ishtar looked like, they did not know that the "Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue" built in Inazuma Castle was modeled after Ishtar's appearance, and of course, they could not have explained this to Han Fulai beforehand.

It was truly unimaginable how he could discern the true form of the "Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue" without ever having seen it in person, and how he could so boldly storm Inazuma Castle and attack the "Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue"—he must have been absolutely certain of the statue's identity to have acted in this way.

As for when Han Fulai confirmed the identity of the statue, it was naturally when the "Seed of Time" within him resonated with the statue.

However, the "seed of time" that Wendy gave him was his trump card that allowed him to confront Ray Movies in person, and he couldn't possibly reveal it to Ray Movies here.

Of course, even without the resonance generated by the "Seed of Time," he had already seen through the true form of the statue before he even saw it, and all his plans were based on the premise that "'the Thousand-Armed and Hundred-Eyed Statue' is 'the Statue of Ishtar.'"

“I have never met Ishtar, nor have the Emperor or the Wind God shown me the face of the ‘Time Ruler’,” Han Fulai answered honestly. “But the identity of the statue can be deduced simply by consulting a few people who have seen it for details—”

He held up three fingers: "The statue has three special features that are different from the seven civilizations that currently exist on the continent of Teyvat."

"One is the wings inlaid with 'eyes'. The Sky Island messenger with wings full of eyes—that is, 'angel'. In the era when the Sky Island directly ruled the earth, the elves, as messengers from the heavens, communicated with mortals, leading them to build civilizations and conveying the will of the heavens... Ishtar should also be one of the angels."

"Secondly, there is the clothing worn by the deity. The long, flowing robe worn by the deity is different from the clothing of various countries on the continent today, and of course, it is also very different from the kimono of Inazuma. I once had the privilege of visiting an ancient civilization beneath the abyss of layered rocks and saw the statues that remained there—those statues wore the same clothing as the deity. As far as I know, this kind of clothing was called 'Shimachun' in ancient times, and it was also a major characteristic of ancient civilizations."

"And thirdly..."

Han Fulai pointed to his chest.

"The 'eye' embedded in the statue's chest is the 'eye' you hid under the name of 'Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes,' and it is also the most important 'eye' on that statue—a symbol of Sky Island, representing the 'all-knowing' 'all-seeing eye.'"

When Ying and Paimeng arrived in front of the "Thousand-Handed and Hundred-Eyed Statue," several minutes had passed since Han Fulai entered the "Pure Land of One Heart."

But the people at the scene remained unchanged from a few minutes earlier, all gazing up at the statue as if frozen in place by some force...

This was certainly not due to any power of time at work, but rather because of the transformation of the idol.

Han Fulai's Salt Sorrow Spear struck the statue, creating a crack, and then his body was sucked into the statue through that crack—that's how it appeared to Kujo Kamaji and Kurosawa Kyonosuke, who were present at the scene.

However, his disappearance was only the beginning.

The crack he created then gave rise to a terrifying mutation.

The stone statue, which should have been inorganic, suddenly seemed to come alive. Something was spreading outwards through the crack...

Although no one could see what was inside the crack, everyone could intuitively sense the presence of something—anyone who came into contact with that thing was as if they had been frozen in place, unable to even move a finger.

A Mondstadt resident who had personally experienced the "Dragon Plague" would probably call it the "Dragon's Might"; while an Inazuma who had witnessed the general wielding his sword would say it was the general's supreme "Divine Might"; and seasoned adventurers familiar with the "Abyss" might recall the saying, "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you"...

Ying was no ordinary person, and her actions were not restricted by the anomaly of the statue, so she could see very clearly—in the crack on the statue's chest, where there was originally an eye-shaped decoration, there really was a red eye looking out.

"Ying! Paimon! You're here!" A familiar voice came from behind them.

On the "Tianheng", a handsome young man dressed in a dark blue swallowtail coat, holding a long sword, leaped down.

It is autumn.

Aside from Ying and the "scatterers" hidden among the distant crowd, the only one who can maintain their mobility under the gaze of the "Evil Eye" is Xingqiu, the holder of the God's Eye.

But she was actually feeling very bad too.

The oppressive aura emanating from that "Evil Eye" was like the malevolent gaze of some ancient monster; a single glance could freeze one's entire body in fear, and Xing Qiuguang had to exert all his strength to even make a move.

Before the operation, her brother Han had already told everyone on the "Tianheng" to just wait for his return in the cabin—Han Fulai probably had anticipated the appearance of the "Evil Eye" and had told ordinary people to take cover in advance.

Ke Xingqiu was unwilling.

What kind of knight-errant is it to just cower in the cabin and tremble?

They clearly agreed to fight side by side when they swore brotherhood...

Whether they are sworn brothers or not, there is no reason for him to face a powerful enemy alone while I stand idly by.

Xingqiu really wanted to help him. She had been thinking about what she could do, and the appearance of Ying and Paimon gave her a glimmer of hope.

"Xingqiu, what just happened?" Ying didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

After a brief exchange, Ying gained a general understanding of the strange changes happening in the area and also learned where Han Fulai had gone.

"Oh, so Young Master Han has also entered the 'Pure Land of One Heart'," Paimon remarked with a touch of emotion.

Although that young master Han from Liyue seems refined and cultured, he seems to be even more proactive than Ying when it matters most...

"Do you have any way to get us all in?" Xingqiu asked Yingmei anxiously.

"Yes," Ying answered with particular confidence.

"You really have a way?" Xingqiu and Paimeng asked in unison, one with surprise and the other with shock.

"Hmm, that's a good idea." Ying raised her sword and pointed it at the crack in the statue's chest. "If General Thunder doesn't let us in, we'll tear her statue down!"

“I see…” Lei Yingdian nodded.

Having seen ancient ruins and knowing of the existence of the "All-Seeing Eye," it's not surprising that this person could deduce the identity of the statue.

The name "Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes" was not given arbitrarily; it was a respectful title given to the "angels" who walked the earth during the era when Sky Island ruled the land.

Those elf "angels" who belonged directly to Sky Island, also known as "celestial spirits" in later generations, were once known as "the Thousand-Handed and Hundred-Eyed Guanyin".

This is not merely a visual description of the "angels'" appearance. In fact, the image of "angels" is not fixed; like demons, they can also transform into countless forms.

The reason for this alternative name "Thousand Hands and Hundred Eyes" is mainly a symbol: "Thousand Hands" represents great compassion, using a thousand arms to help people get rid of disasters and difficulties; "Hundred Eyes" represents omniscience of everything on earth, indicating that wisdom far surpasses that of ordinary people, and nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the divine messenger.

Of course, Han Fulai himself was unaware of these things.

His ability to deduce the identity of the idol mainly stemmed from the inspiration he received from discussing "predestination" with Mona in Mondstadt.

At that time, he once proposed a hypothesis about a "Laplace's Demon" to Mona, that is, could the Heavenly Principle on Sky Island, which monitors everything on the continent of Teyvat with ley lines and determines the fate of everyone with the "False Heaven", be an omniscient and omnipotent "Laplace's Demon".

His conclusion was that the principles of Heaven could never be "omniscient and omnipotent".

However, in the eyes of ordinary people on the continent of Teyvat, it is not a problem to say that the Heavenly Principle is "omniscient and omnipotent". For Sky Island, which has a ley line monitoring system, it can indeed be said to be "omniscient" about everything on the continent of Teyvat.

As for the eye on the statue's chest, he had indeed seen it before.

—That was the most memorable scene for every Genshin Impact player at the start of the game. When the Ruler of Justice sealed the twins, Ao and Luminosity, the same "All-Seeing Eye" appeared behind her.

These features on the statue are the symbols of the Sky Isle's messengers.

Therefore, after hearing Ying describe the statue before Han Fu came, he almost immediately realized the statue's special identity.

As for why they were able to determine that the statue was "Time Ruler" Ishtar, and not one of the other three rulers, it was because of Wendy's suggestion and their understanding of the "game script" as time travelers. There's no need to explain these things to Ray Movie.

As the "wallbreaker" of Lei's films, the "wallfacer," he has one last blow left—

"Our last remaining question is your purpose, General."

"You went so far as to issue the 'Eye Hunting Order' and the 'Isolation Order' as a cover to build this 'Thousand-Handed, Hundred-Eyed Statue' as a 'symbol of eternity.' What exactly is this 'eternity' you seek to achieve?"

Lei Yingdian stared blankly at Han Fulai, quietly awaiting the answer.

"To know the answer, one must understand your thoughts, General—and I got my inspiration from a novel published by Yaedo, 'The Tale of Sumikken Masakage'..."

"Chin-sho Sumikage Shinkage," originally titled "Shinkage-uchi," is an older fantasy novel of unknown authorship. Because it involves the stories of two generations of Raiden Generals, it was once banned in Inazuma. It was only after the establishment of Yaedo Publishing that it was republished under a different name.

The book records the following story:

"The first Shogun, Narukami Gongen, was accompanied by his younger sister from the day the Great Palace on the land of Inazuma was completed. The two, one in the light and one in the shadow, one real and one in the dark, negotiated in the court and fought on the battlefield. This younger sister, whose given name was 'EI,' would probably be written as 'Shadow' in the same character as the first Shogun's name. She was the second Shogun, the 'Shadow Shogun.'"

"As everyone knows, in that great war that swept through the mortal world, only the Seven Gods survived. Although General Shadow was a master of martial arts and unparalleled in swordsmanship, she felt that she was just a martial artist and could not understand people's hearts. So she chose to perish and disappear to help her elder sister go to Luoyang, the 'Heavenly Capital', and become the one who ruled the world under Inazuma."

"The 'True' Shogun subsequently established a shogunate and governed Inazuma. Naturally, he still cherished old feelings, and Narukami Gongen summoned back the 'Shadow's' consciousness, reshaped her form, and placed her as his 'Shadow Warrior' by his side."